1

So your trip is for two-weeks at the end of April into the beginning of May. The eastern leg (New York and Florida) looks OK, but the western leg is impractical. You are simply driving through one destination after another spending all of your time driving.

I'd recommend a loop trip for the west better done by flying into Las Vegas, spending a night or two, then renting a car for driving to the Grand Canyon for a night or two, maybe looping around through Petrified Forest National Park if time allows, then returning to Las Vegas for car drop-off and flight out.

2

What's at the airport that's so important?
(We generally don't use airport codes to refer to cities in the US.)

Stay at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, rather than drive to Kingman. You can drive the old Route 66 route the next day, and do it more leisurely, not to mention enjoy more time at the canyon. You could also consider a slight detour via Oak Creek Canyon on your way to the canyon, to improve the scenery along the drive.

Skip L.A and fly from Vegas to S.F. Or skip S.F., and drive to L.A.
You really only have time for one. I suggest S.F., but the choice is very subjective.

Boston is not a day trip from NYC unless you live there. It's the better part of the day just to get there and back. And there is so much to do in NYC you could easily occupy your already very limited time there.
If you insist on a day trip, go to Philadelphia.

Skip Miami, and spend your time in the Tampa area (still need a car). For the most part, they are similar enough, and you'll save a lot of time and money on transiting.

So with these changes, your route is more like this:

Fr. 26/4 - Zürich-Tampa (Flight) Arrival : 6pm
Overnight Tampa near Airport
Sa. 27/4 - Tampa-Phoenix (Early flight US Air) Arrival at 9:00am
Rent Car, Drive Phoenix-Grand Canyon (approx. 4h)
Drive around Canyon, stop at some viewpoints
Spend night in at Grand Canyon
Su. 28/4 - Drive Grand Canyon to Las Vegas
Spend night in Las Vegas
Mo. 29/4 - Las Vegas
Spend night in Las Vegas
Tu. 30/4 - Drive Las Vegas-Los Angeles (4 hrs) or fly to SF
Spend night in LA or SF
We 1/5 - Los Angeles or SF
Spend night in LA or SF
Th 2/5 - Los Angeles or SF
Spend night in LA or SF
Fr 3/5 - Flight San Francisco-New York-Newark
Spend night in NYC
Sa 4/5 - New York
Spend night in New York
Su 5/5 - New York
(Daytrip to Philly by cheap bus)
Spend night in New York
Mo 6/5 - New York
Spend night in New York
Tu 7/5 - New York
Spend night in NYC
We 8/5 - Fly to Tampa
Rent car
Spend night in Tampa
Th 9/5 - Tampa
Spend night in Tampa
Fr 10/5 - Tampa-Zürich (Return flight)

Here's my standard answer:

There is no set "cheapest car rental." Any agency may be the cheapest at any time, dependent on dates, routes, etc.
kayak.com, priceline, expedia, travelocity, orbitz, hotwire, the individual agencies, etc., etc., etc. Also look at foreign brokers and foreign versions of the companies. They may or may not include any one-way fees and the mandatory insurance.
Make sure you compare prices like for like (some focus on subtotals, others totals).
It will take a lot of effort on your part.
See FAQ 144.

See FAQs 241, 247 and 259.
Din't worry abut being right next to Penn Station. The subways make getting around very easy.

3

Alternatively, you could forgo that second night in Las Vegas, and spend a night around Flagstaff. This would allow you to explore the area around there and Sedona.

4

Without actually looking at anything too deeply..Is she really getting such a huge deal on her tickets that it warants all that additional travel to and from Tampa.

5

Seems hideous to me, but it sounds like you know what you're getting yourself into.

6

Thank you all for your valuable input. Adding Oak Creek Canyon, spending the night at the South Rim instead of Kingman and skipping either LA or San Francisco may be an option worth considering. Sedona may also be an intersting option. All in all we are fast paced travellers and dont like spending too much time at the same place.

Taking parts of Route 66 instead of the main freeway is part of the plan anyway.

Boston is a must to see as we need to vist friends and family for lunch. I know we will spend most of the day in the train. Flying to Boston from San Francisco or LA and then traveling to NY from there may be worth considering as it will save us one leg of the train trip. Any other idea?

The flight from ZRH to Tampa is almost for free, so beats any great deal for two to any other destination by a country mile, especially originating from a place like Zurich.

Isn't Miami worth visiting if we are in Florida anyway?

Are there any other places in Florida, especially between Miami and Tampa worth visiting?

Anyone who can give some advise where to get the best travel industry rates for hotels in the US?

Thanks again for you help
Peter

7

Miami..South Beach. and/or rent a car and drive down to Key West...thats a really nice trip. I notice a lot of people rent a convertible at Miami Airport to do that trip.

8

Shelemn - that's not very nice, nor is it helpful to OP. OP, my husband and I travel like you (or how it sounds you like to travel) in that we like to be on the move and see as much as possible! I think your plans are fine, but I would agree w/ those who said to either spend the time in L.A. OR SF, as it would be difficult to squeeze both in and get much out of either place. I live in L.A., so I won't give you my thoughts on which city to choose, but either city has lots to offer.

Re: Florida, I've never been to Miami, but I'd say if you're going down that way, I'd suggest visiting Everglades National Park instead of spending the time in Miami. I'm typically partial towards nature versus cities, but you may be different. Everglades is pretty cool though, from my recollection.

9

Miami is not a must-see by any means and it's kind of similar to some parts of LA. I would skip Florida altogether. Just fly in and out of Tampa. You would need to miss a lot more interesting things to fit this in. So no, I don't think it's worth spending any of your valuable time in Florida.

If you're not planning to drive the coast between LA and SF, which is a major highlight in the US (doing it over 2 nights is best), then you might as well just fly from LA to SF. You don't need a car in SF and it's very expensive to park. And the shorter inland drive is boring and ugly with nothing to see.

I would spend 4-5 nights in NYC and 2 nights in Boston. It's a lot cheaper getting to Boston by bus (Boltbus for example) than the train and it seems budget matters to you. Then fly Boston to Tampa to fly back.

I would also look up flight prices that don't involve you flying in and out of Tampa and see if the difference in fare makes sense once you add up costs of flights to get between Tampa and the places that you actually want to see.

In terms of hotels, I think it would be easier if you provided us with a list of hotels in each city that you get a good rate at and we can recommend the best option based on location, etc.

10

I count 12 nights not including your first and last night in Tampa. I would suggest 4 nights in NYC and 2 in Boston...so you have 6 for the west. I would spend 3 nights in San Francisco, which leaves 3. To avoid paying a one-way drop off fee, I would fly directly to Las Vegas from Tampa. If you are keen on seeing Vegas, spend the first night there. Otherwise, get out quickly. I would then do a loop through the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. (If you are planning a longish hike in the Grand Canyon then you could spend two nights there.) Back to Vegas and fly to San Francisco. I would choose Zion over Sedona and the bonus is that you would avoid the one-way drop-off fee. I would choose Phoenix only if the flight from Tampa was significantly cheaper. If that were the case, you could take a nice drive stopping at Montezuma's Castle and Sedona before spending the night in Flagstaff. Have fun!

11

FWIW, I just checked Southwest Airlines and the prices to Las Vegas and Phoenix are about the same, $250ish.

12

Did you buy any flights already?

I too would skip LA or SF. If you like nature, there are many, many nice things to see in the area roughly defined by the triangle SF-LA-LV. Death Valley, Yosemite, Hwy 1, US 395. If it were me, I'd skip LA, and go from Las Vegas to Death Valley, up 395 (extremely scenic road), check out Mono Lake, the volcano, Bodie, Tioga Pass into Yosemite, then end up in SF. This drive is especially amazing in spring time since it becomes verdant, lush and undulating. I would recommend two days for this trip (Las Vegas -- SF).

In Florida, I thought Miami was a lot of fun actually. Check out Miami Beach and Little Havana among other things. Key West is a nice drive. Everglades was probably the highlight for me. You can do a day trip to either Key West or Everglades.

13

Southwest may be a "low-cost carrier", but they certainly don't keep the costs low! Several other airlines take you there for $150-$170!

14

I don't mind Miami and love Key West, but I don't think anything there compares to sites in California and thus don't consider them must-sees on a short 2-weeks trip.